Host Lauren Korn and poet-essayist Paisley Rekdal, author of Appropriate: A Provocation (W. W. Norton & Company), dive into the nuances of cultural appropriation in literature. What is the difference between depicting a character unlike one’s self and appropriating their culture and identity? What is the difference between one’s politics and one’s ethics? They explore these topics and more, this week on The Write Question.
About Paisley:
Paisley Rekdal is a poet and essayist whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and American Poetry Review, as well as on NPR. She teaches at the University of Utah and is the state’s poet laureate. She lives in Salt Lake City.
Paisley Rekdal recommends:
The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind edited by Claudia Rankine and Beth Loffreda (Fence Books)
Why Was It So Easy for Jessica Krug to Fool Everyone? by Jason England
How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi (Penguin Random House; One World)
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses (Catapult)
Black Mirror, Season 4, Episode 6: “Black Museum” directed by Colm McCarthy and written by Charlie Brooker
Lauren Korn recommends:
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib (Penguin Random House)
Citizen: An American Lyric and Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf Press)
White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination by Jess Row (Graywolf Press)
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The Write Question team is Lauren Korn, host and co-producer; Peter Hoag, co-producer and editor; and Tom Berich, sound engineer.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss. Our music was written and recorded by John Floridis.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
